Submitted by camidon on Fri, 10/22/2004 - 11:58pm

Here's a really old one. I want to say 1959--Nope 1951 (just looked it up)

When I was younger, I never could get into black and white movies. Thankfully, as I've aged, i've come to shrug of my useful bias, and not regularly enjoy black and white movies. I blame it on Casablanca, why did that have to be so good... Anyway

This is a clssic tale abot a space ship landing and the "aliens" bring an upheaval to the planet. The thing is, this is one of the first serious science fiction of the times. Before this, it was all big eyed monster horror flicks. The Day the Earth STood Still set the precendent for future science fiction movies to follow. Sure, as usual, I could nitpick--things like lack of a strong female character, beating the stated issue a little too much--but that's mostly a product of the times--this came out in the nuclear destructionist 50's. The message, though blunt, is as appropriate today, as it was when the movie came out.,

Robert Wise directed. He did Star Trek, the original movie, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, and The Haunting--strongly recommended, it's a G horror movie. (The Haunting is also made me want to write a good old fashioned suspence-horror movie, not the blood-splatteing slasher crap that constitutes the genre today. This endeavor is soon to be in a critque slot near you. . .)

Check this out, if nothing else, to see the origins of serious science fiction moviedom.